i. christian contraction in asia and africa · the challenge of islam, ... a smaller but more...

I. Christian Contraction in Asia and Africa

A. Asian Christianity

1. The challenge of Islam, yet many cases of tolerance: While Christianity had spread

through much of North Africa and the Middle East, the unexpected rise of a new

monotheistic faith meant the end of some Christian communities, especially in the

Arabian Peninsula. However, the treatment of Christians was not uniform and was

very much dependent on the attitude of local Muslim rulers. In Syria, Jerusalem, and

Armenia, Christian leaders negotiated agreements with the Islamic forces and the

communities survived.

2. Nestorian Christians in the Middle East and China: In Syria, Iraq, and Persia, a

Church of the East, the Nestorians, found accommodation with Islamic rulers by not

preaching to Muslims and by abandoning their sacred image as offensive to Islam’s

rules against idolatry. In China, the Nestorian Christians adapted to Chinese culture

and used familiar terms to communicate the message of Jesus. From the 600s to the

mid 800s, this church survived thanks to state tolerance; however, this changed when

the dynasty moved against all foreign faiths, including Islam and Buddhism.

3. Mongols and Christians: The Mongols were tolerant in regards to issues of

religion, and some even saw Jesus as a strong shaman and converted. Others

preferred Christianity to Buddhism and Islam as they wanted to eat meat and drink

alcohol. It is unclear what impact Jesus’ message of peace had on these fierce

warriors of the steppes.

I. Christian Contraction in Asia and Africa

B. African Christianity

1. Coptic Church in Egypt: Christians in Egypt developed their own interpretations of

the life of Jesus and their own Coptic language for worship. They were tolerated by

Arab rulers until violent campaigns against them in the mid-fourteenth century

(related to the Crusades and the Mongol invasion). In the good years, Copts preferred

Arab rule to Byzantium as the Greek Orthodox Church viewed them as heretics.

2. Nubia: Further south in Nubia, Christianity flourished for some 600 years. Many

political leaders also held religious office. Yet by 1500, pressure from Egypt,

conversions, and Arab migrations spelled the end of this community.

3. Ethiopia: In the highlands of Ethiopia, a unique form of Christianity developed and

survives until this day, where 60 percent of the population are Christian. Isolated

from its Islamic neighbors by geography and protected by memories of the

Ethiopians’ shelter of Muslim refugees from Mecca during the prophet’s life, the

faith followed its own course without contact with other Christian churches.

Ethiopians developed a fascination with Judaism and Jerusalem.

II. Byzantine Christendom: Building on the Roman Past

A. The Byzantine State

1. A smaller but more organized Roman Empire: Byzantium was really

the eastern section of the Roman Empire, becoming the sole heir to

Rome after it fell in 476. While Byzantium never regained control over

the western Mediterranean (except for a brief period under Emperor

Justinian, 527–565) and was much smaller in terms of territory, it had a

strong administration and could mobilize its wealth for warfare.

2. Wealth and splendor of the court: Sitting astride the trade routes

between the East and West, the empire was extremely wealthy. The

empire had a decidedly Greek character but also influences from

Persian court ceremonies, such as high officials in silk robes. Political

power was centralized in the figure of the emperor who was celebrated

in the court with a mechanical throne that rose above his visitors and

mechanical lions that roared.

3. Under attack from the West and East, 1085–1453: The empire

sustained some four centuries of assaults from hostile Western states

such as Venice, Catholic crusaders, and Muslim Turkic armies before

Constantinople finally fell to the Ottoman forces in 1453.


B. The Byzantine Church and Christian Divergence

1. Caesaropapism: While in Western Europe there was an intense competition

between political and religious authority, in the east, the Byzantine emperor was head

of the church and the state.

2. Intense internal theological debates: Within the Orthodox faith, there were intense

and complicated debates over the nature of Jesus and his relationship to the Trinity

and whether or not icons should be used as representations of God and Jesus. Many

of these disputes resulted in violence within Byzantium.

3. Orthodox/Catholic divide: While both Western and Eastern Europe were Christian

and had many similarities stemming from a shared faith, they each interpreted the

faith in their own manner and were extremely suspicious of and hostile to the other

faith. When the Roman Pope declared that he was the head of all Christians, the

Byzantine emperor who was head of state and the church strongly disagreed. In 1054,

representatives of both churches excommunicated each other, thus saying that the

other faith was not truly Christian.

4. Impact of the Crusades: When the Crusades started in 1095, things went from bad

to worse as Catholic troops behaved poorly, if not violently, in Byzantine lands. The

Fourth Crusade of 1204 plundered Constantinople and held the city for several

decades. Thus, the Crusades marked an irreparable divide between east and west.


C. Byzantium and the World

1. Conflicts with Persians, Arabs, and Turks: Byzantium continued the Roman

Empire’s conflict with the Persian Empire, which in turn weakened both of them and

allowed the Arabs to seize Persia. Byzantium held out against the Arab attacks, using

such technology as “Greek fire,” an early form of flamethrowers. The empire finally

fell to the Turkish advance, thus allowing Islam into southeastern Europe.

2. Long-distance trade, coins, and silk production: Sitting at one of the key hinges of

trade, the empire became very wealthy. Its coins were used as currency and even

jewelry throughout the Mediterranean for some five centuries. The Byzantines also

produced much silk for both domestic and external consumption.

3. Preservation of Greek learning: Byzantine libraries preserved Greek texts from the

golden age of Hellenic thought at a time when such learning was lost in the West.

These texts would later be introduced to the West.

4. Slavic world and Cyrillic script: Blocked to the south and east by the Islamic

world, the Byzantines spread their culture northwards into Slavic lands. In the ninth

century, two Byzantine missionaries, Cyril and Methodius, developed a writing

system for the Slavs based on Greek letters. This allowed for the translation of the

Bible and the spreading of the faith.


D. The Conversion of Russia

1. Kievan Rus: This was a state in present Russia and the Ukraine.

Composed of diverse people including Finns, Vikings, and Balts as

well as Slavs, the area engaged in long-distance trade networks along

its rivers that linked Scandinavia to Byzantium. The region had a

diverse religious make-up with various nature gods and small numbers

of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

2. Prince Vladimir of Kiev: In the tenth century, this leader decided the

state needed a religion that would link it to the outside world.

According to chronicles, he decided against Islam as his people were

fond of drinking—perhaps a little too fond, some might say. Eastern

Orthodoxy was attractive as the Byzantine state was wealthy and

powerful and a marriage alliance sealed the decision. Importantly, this

conversion was a free decision made without a military invasion, and

the faith made deep inroads into the people of the region.

3. Doctrine of a “third Rome”: The Rus borrowed extensively from

Byzantium, including the use of icons, architectural style, a monastic

tradition, and imperial control of the church. When Constantinople fell

in 1453, the Rus declared that they were the “third Rome” as the first Rome

had abandoned its faith and the second fell to the Muslims.

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III. Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of Roman Collapse

A. Political Life in Western Europe, 500–1000

1. What was lost with the fall of Rome? With overthrow of the last

Roman emperor in the West by the German general Odoacer in 476,

Rome officially fell. However, this was merely a moment in a long-

term decline of central authority and civilization in the West. Central

political authority collapsed, cities shrunk and decayed, literacy was

lost, roads fell apart, trade broke down, barter replaced a standard

currency, and diseases spread among desperate people.

2. What aspects of Rome survived? While things fell apart in the

Mediterranean, aspects of Rome survived in northwest Europe.

Germanic peoples, once viewed as barbarians by Romans, adopted

Roman law and military organization.

3. Charlemagne as a Roman emperor, 800: The survival of the dream

of Rome is best seen in the crowning of King Charlemagne (r. 768–

814) as a new Roman emperor by the Pope in 800. As king of the

Carolingian Empire, he sought to re-establish a standard imperial

infrastructure, bureaucracy, and system of weights and measures. Later

Otto I of Saxony (r. 936–973) would take the title of Holy Roman

Emperor.

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III. Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of the Roman Collapse

B. Society and the Church

1. Feudalism and Serfdom: When Roman authority collapsed, an ad hoc political and

military system developed as the political, economic, and social power of isolated

land estates or manors fell into the hands of wealthy warriors. As these warrior elites

were in constant competition with each other, lesser knights and lords swore loyalty

to the stronger warriors. Frequently they would receive land and loot for their military

service. While the slavery of the Roman Empire faded away, peasants were

increasingly not personal property but were tied to the land on which they worked

and not free to leave. In return for access to land, they had to pay some of their crops

and other produce to the lord. In return they also received protection.

2. Role of the church: The Roman Catholic Church, with its hierarchical organization

of priests, bishops, and cardinals, was the only surviving institution of the Roman

past. Its organization allowed it to administer the faith, in Latin, and also to amass

wealth via taxation.

3. Spreading the faith: The church worked to convert pagan Europeans to Christianity

in a long and sometimes slow process. Often pagan practices, sites, and holidays were

remade as Christian rituals, churches, and sacred days. On occasion, force was used

to spread the faith.

4. Conflicts between church and state: With the church being the only pan-European

institution and relatively weak kings eager to build power within their realms,

secular-sacred tensions flared over wealth and the right to appoint bishops.


C. Accelerating Change in the West

1. New security after 1000: After centuries of Muslim, Viking, and Magyar attacks,

security settled into Europe.

2. High Middle Ages (1000–1300): This era of economic, political, and demographic

growth is known as the High Middle Ages.

3. Revival of long-distance trade: Essential to economic growth was the revival of

trade routes. Regional routes connected the British Isles to the coast and onto the

Baltic Sea, rivers connected the coasts to the interior, and the cities of the

Mediterranean established circuits of commerce.

4. Urbanization and specialization of labor: Substantial growth in the cities saw a

specialization of labor and professions. Guilds served as a method of organizing and

monitoring specific professions.

5. Territorial kingdoms, Italian city-states, and German principalities: With the new

security and economic growth, the states became more powerful. Some kingdoms in

the northwest developed large land bases while commercially vibrant city-states

characterized Italy and numerous small states dominated the German lands.

6. Rise and fall of opportunities for women: Initially, economic growth opened up

opportunities for women in both the labor force and the church. However, men

reasserted control and either removed women from certain trades or downgraded their

role. Women also lost control over certain church to men from the clergy.


D. Europe Outward Bound: The Crusading Tradition

1. Merchants, diplomats, and missionaries: These Europeans established connections to the

outside world and taught an isolated Europe what was out there.

2. Christian piety and warrior values: The crusading spirit combined the two most important

forces of the Middle Ages: religious piety and the warrior ethos. Evidently, the European

knights were able to overcome Jesus’ teachings about peace and love.

3. Seizure of Jerusalem, 1099: The siege and taking of Jerusalem ended in a massive massacre

of Muslims and Jews in the very place where Jesus was to have walked and taught his message

of love.

4. Crusader states, 1099–1291: These were states in the Middle East held by crusading knights

for almost two centuries.

5. Iberia, Baltic Sea, Byzantium, and Russia: These regions also experienced attacks from

crusading knights. The Christians fought against Muslims, pagans, and Eastern Orthodox

communities.

6. Less important than Turks and Mongols: For the Middle East, the Crusades were much less

important than the invasions from Turkic peoples and the Mongols. It was not until the era of

19th and 20th century western imperialism that the Crusades were widely discussed in the

Islamic world.

7. Cross-cultural trade, technology transfer, and intellectual exchange: The Crusades did give

Europeans exposure to new goods such as sugar and spice and ideas from Islamic technology

to Greek learning.

8. Hardening of boundaries: While trade did come from the Crusades, they also hardened the

divisions between Roman Catholics and Muslims, Jews, and Eastern Orthodox Christians.

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IV. The West in Comparative Perspective

A. Catching Up

1. Backwards Europe: In all measures of comparison, Western Europe was behind the

great civilizations of Eurasia. Visitors to Europe saw them as barbarians, and

Europeans who went abroad realized their poverty.

2. New trade initiatives: Thanks to the exposure to the outside world, new trade

missions reached out to the rest of the world. When the Mongols conquered the entire

Silk Roads, European merchants such as Marco Polo ventured all the way to China

and brought back tales of wealth and sophistication.

3. Agricultural breakthroughs: The foundation for Europe’s growth lay in its

agricultural revolution. New plows, horse harnesses, and crop rotation techniques

increased grain production, which allowed for population growth, developed of a

surplus, and labor specialization.

4. Wind and water mills: Europeans used wind and water mills to grind grain but also

power the production of crafts goods from tanned hides to beer.

5. Gunpowder and maritime technology: A variety of technologies came from China,

India, and the Arab world, and Europeans incorporated and built upon them. This is

clearly seen in the development of cannons and the use of magnetic compasses,

shipbuilding, advances in sails and rudders, and navigations techniques that allowed

Europeans to start to project power overseas.


B. Pluralism in Politics

1. A system of competing states: As there was no overall power in

Europe, there was a system of competing states that struggled with

each other for centuries. These long-term conflicts created a militarized

society with a warrior elite at its head, in contrast to China where the

scholar-gentry ruled.

2. Gunpowder revolution: This interstate competition led to increased

innovations in technology and military organization, as well as systems

of state taxation to pay for warfare.

3. States, the church, and the nobility: A three-way political conflict

developed between the heads of state, the international reach of the

church in Rome, and nobles who jealously guarded their wealth and

right against their kings.

4. Merchant independence: The three-way political struggle allowed

merchants a great deal of independence and autonomy.


C. Reason and Faith

1. Connections to Greek thought: In the early years of Christianity, Greek philosophy

was part of the explanation and understanding of faith. However, with the post-

Roman decline, access to these texts and ideas was lost.

2. Autonomous universities: Stemming from the tradition of church schools,

universities were established in various cities. Importantly, they maintained a high

degree of independence and intellectual freedom.

3. A new interest in rational thought: With the growth of universities came a new

interest in applying reason to explain the world and to explain the Christian faith.

This was first seen in subjecting theology to critical inquiry, and later rational inquiry

was applied to the natural world.

4. Search for Greek texts: As contact with the Byzantine and Arab world grew with

the Crusades, there was a growing desire to get to the original source material.

Scholars got ahold of texts from centers of learning in these cultures. Direct access to

these texts spurred further study and the development of philosophical activity.

5. Comparisons with Byzantium and the Islamic World: While the Byzantines had

many Greek texts, they were not interested in natural philosophy and focused more

on the humanities. They were also suspicious of the pagan roots of much of this

learning. In the Muslim world, many Greek texts were translated into Arabic, but

debates arose regarding whether reason was an aid or a threat to faith.

IV. Remembering and Forgetting: Continuity and Surprise in the Worlds

of Christendom

A. Christendom’s legacies: Many of the features of the modern world can be

traced back to the period between 500 and 1300.

B. Misleading history? Yet, as we know the end of the story, it is sometimes

too easy to write Europe’s rise back into the history. We can this

misconstruction Europe as destined for world power.

i. christian contraction in asia and africa · the challenge of islam, ... a smaller but more...

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